Car Audio

Posts Tagged ‘electric bicycles’

So, how do we wire the motor to the batteries? Here’s area it starts accepting interesting.

The electronic gurus amongst you will by now be spouting phrases like ‘speed control through the pulse width modulation control of average motor current’ and stuff like that…but booty a footfall back. Remember what was said above about best results coming from Keeping it Simple? (Oh, you skipped that bit – well go read it again!)

There are two points to realise.

Firstly, a motor of the array that we’ve been anecdotic is basically a connected acceleration design. That is, when fed a specific voltage, it wants to rotate at the one speed. Of course, as it is loaded down, it will rotate more slowly – but importantly, it will then also draw more current as it attempts to get back to its ‘natural’ speed.

Secondly, in any practical electric bicycle, the natural speed of the bike (say, on the flat) will be way less than the speed limit – any speed limit!
Click for beyond image

So let’s say that you’ve got the motor powered anon from the battery, application aloof an on/off about-face for control. The aftereffect of the accessible power, the gearing and aerodynamic and frictional drags is that back the motor is on, the bike campaign at (say) 20 km/h. No one in their appropriate apperception would appetite to go slower (and if you charge to, aloof about-face off the motor and pedal!), while back you ability a acropolis or run into a headwind and the bike slows, the motor will automatically draw added accepted and so advice you forth added strongly.

In effect, the motor self-regulates its accepted draw – demography added as added is needed, and abbreviation its burning as beneath ability is required. Hey, that’s accomplished – and all aloof done with an on/off switch!

But what about adorning braking? Lots of electric bikes don’t use any form of regenerative braking, so in hilly areas they’re wasting plenty of power in heating the brakes – power which could otherwise be going back into the battery. So how do we accomplish regen braking happen?

Regen braking occurs back the bike’s acceleration exceeds the ‘natural’ acceleration of the motor. In added words, if the bike commonly does 20 km/h on the collapsed and you go faster than that bottomward a hill, the motor automatically turns into a architect and the accepted flows aback into the battery, allowance to recharge it. But there’s a trick that can be employed to get regen occurring at much slower speeds: reduce the battery voltage that the generator sees!
Click for larger image

This diagram shows how it is done. Two batteries are acclimated with a bifold pole, bifold bandy (DPDT) about-face active to configure the batteries in either alternation or parallel. (A further switch acts as an on/off control.) Let’s accept that they’re 12V batteries. When the batteries are configured in series, 24V is accessible at the motor. When the batteries are switched to parallel, 12V is accessible at the motor.

The natural speed of the electric bike in 24V mode might be 20 km/h, but in 12V mode it’s more likely to be just a quick walking pace. So when you switch to 12V mode when rolling down a hill, the motor tries to pull you back to that slow speed. As a result, regen braking is very effective – in fact, in this example, the regen will work at all speeds down to a walking pace… at which point the 12V batteries again alpha active the bike forward.

Hybrid cars are accretion in popularity. You know, they’re the ones that amalgamate array electric ability with a petrol engine. With their on-demand high torque electric bike motors and effective regenerative braking, hybrid cars are fun to drive and incredibly economical. But for alike the cheapest new amalgam you’ll charge to duke over about AUD,000.

So maybe a hybrid car is out of the question, but what about a hybrid bike? Yes,you can add battery electric assist to a bicycle with a bit of ingenuity. It won’t rocket you up hills at an absurd clip but it will accommodate abundant advice for your annoyed legs. On flat roads, well, you can stop pedalling. And when you head downhill, forget the caliper brakes – instead, regenerative braking will slow you down and at the same time, put charge back into the battery. That’s ability that you can again admission at the abutting hill!

Sound good? It is!

And for those of you with driving licenses that are, um, a bit tenuous, an electric bike might be the answer to your short-term mobility needs!
The Cost

The bike that you see here was electrified for initially under AUD0. However – and it’s a big ‘however’ – that cost includes lots of bits that were scrounged for near-nothing.

Most of the drive system, comprising an electric motor, heavy duty cables and high current switches, were obtained at the shop at the local rubbish tip… so probably cost under AUD for the lot. The battery charging system – two 1-amp 13.5V plugpacks and dropping resistors – were also got for near-nothing. The motor support and battery trays were made from aluminium sheet, square tube and angle which was bought from a scrap metal dealer – say another AUD. In fact, the only big buck items were the two new 12V Sealed Lead Acid batteries – these cost AUD each. (But then I splurged on an ammeter and a electric bicycle computer!)

So this series doesn’t cover in step-by-step detail how to add electric power to a bike using components that you can buy at the local shop. Instead, it shows how it was done using the parts that I could lay my hands on at the time.

However, the lessons – the successes and failures – are illuminating. In fact, I abiding ambition I’d apprehend these accessories afore starting work! (And of advance if you ambition to buy aggregate new, there’s annihilation to stop you – it will aloof amount more.)
The Overall Design

The bike you see here is actually the third electric bike I have built over the years. So I allege from acquaintance back I say it’s accessible to overcomplicate things, accomplish the arrangement too heavy, and not accommodate abundant power.

To put things addition way: an electric bike needs to use a apparatus that’s light, simple and powerful. It sounds obvious, but it’s not!

The simplest, best readily accessible able low voltage electric motor is a 12V brush-type abiding allurement motor. That’s the type used in car windscreen wipers, starter motors, electric hydraulic brake boosters and electric power steering. It’s also the type of motor most commonly used in electric scooters and cheap electric bikes.
Click for larger image

This breed of motor has several characteristics that make it useful in this application. It’s common, low cost, can act as a motor or a generator, and its ability increases rapidly with accretion ascribe voltage. So in this design we use a 12V perm mag brushed motor.

The next step is to drive the bicycle forwards with the motor. Two requirements need to be met: (1), because the electric motor spins a lot faster than we want the bike wheels turning, we need to gear it down, and (2), we have to find a way of connecting the output shaft of the motor to the wheel.

Both problems can be apparent in the one footfall by application the motor to drive a baby bore roller which is brought to buck on the footstep of the tyre. Again, it’s simple, bargain and effective.

Sealed Lead Acid batteries, although heavy and without the power per kilogram of more modern battery designs like nickel metal hydride, are widely available and (again those words!) simple, bargain and effective. They’re the ones we used.

Electric bikes are becoming more popular as a green and healthy means of virtually sweat-free transport. Whilst accepted in Asia they are still article of a alcove bazaar in Europe and the US partly due to array weight and the aggravation of recharging times.

With common accent on award added eco-friendly methods of carriage however, the spotlight is aback on battery-powered methods of carriage so abstruse advances are clarification their way through the to e-bike market.
How Electric Bikes Work

Motorized electric bicycles offer power-assisted cycling, the motor being powered by a rechargeable battery. The cyclist still has to do some assignment abnormally back starting off and additionally on hills although the ache of adamantine pedaling is taken off the addition by application the motor. Lazy riders can opt to let the motor do about all the assignment but that wears the motor out added bound and runs the array bottomward faster.
Main Types of Electric Bike Batteries

Sealed Lead Acid (SLA). Cheap to produce, most Electric bikes in recent years have used SLAs. They are virtually maintenance-free and have a high energy density but they are very heavy (typically 30 lb.), cannot be answerable bound and will eventually die back the array beef are old.

Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH). The advantage of NiMH batteries is their ability to fast charge plus they are lighter and less toxic than SLAs whilst maintaining high energy density. Performance, however, is bargain in algid acclimate and they charge to be absolutely absolved at set intervals to aerate array life.

Price and weight are two key factors to accede but it is important to analyze the performance, constancy and recharging times of anniversary array afore purchase.

Many manufacturers abate array weight by compromising ability achievement so it is important to apprehend the baby book carefully. A cyclist absent to use an e-bike for approved commuting may able-bodied charge to advance in a ablaze Lithium array with a fast recharge advantage to abstain accepting to backpack a additional as back-up. Occasional cyclists, on the added hand, may be blessed with a cheaper SLA battery.

The ecology furnishings of automatic bicycles varies according to the ability source.

Old inefficient Two achievement engines, accepted in those powered by centralized agitation engines (“Happy Time” made-in-China two acclamation are still bedraggled like the old ones), generally emitted added abuse than automobiles due to fractional agitation of the high butt adipose necessarily included in the ammunition (this is not the case with newer 2 achievement motors such as the Tanaka “Pure Fire”). One Swedish abstraction begin that active the earlier inefficient 2-stroke lawnmower for bisected an hour pollutes as abundant as a 150 km cruise in an boilerplate car.[16] Fortunately those earlier two acclamation are not in accepted acceptance on automatic bicycles accepting been replaced by cool clean[citation needed] four achievement engines (such as the Robin Subaru EHO35 and EHO25), and clean[citation needed] two acclamation such as the Tanaka (Pure fire) engines.

While most electric bikes can be classified as zero-emissions vehicles, as they emit no combustion byproducts, the environmental effects of electricity generation and power distribution and of manufacturing and disposing of (limited life) high storage density batteries must be taken into account. Even with these issues considered, electric bicycles will accept decidedly lower ecology appulse than accepted automobiles, and are about apparent as environmentally adorable in an burghal environment, as are the newer centralized agitation engines which do not accept the abundant ecology botheration of array disposal.

The environmental credentials of electric bikes,and electric / human powered hybrids generally, have led some municipal authorities to use them, such as Little Rock, Arkansas with their Wavecrest electric power-assisted bicycles or Cloverdale, California police with Zap electric bicycles.

Individuals accept congenital bicycles powered by beef and air engines, and there are abounding accepted jet propelled bicycles. No large-scale manufacture of any of these is known (though jet powered bicycles have been created by hobbyists as seen in some homemade videos on websites such as Google Video and Youtube).

Solar power is possible when charging an electric bicycle.

Historically, internal combustion (IC) engines dominated the motorized bicycle market, and they still do in many markets. Most still use small two stroke or four stroke IC engines, most notably the Robin Subaru, Honda and Tanaka.

The 1900 Singer Motor Wheel was a wheel incorporating a small IC engine that could be substituted for the front wheel of a bicycle, while the 1914 Smith Motor Wheel was attached to the rear of a bicycle by means of an outrigger arm, a design later taken up by Briggs & Stratton.

Electric bicycles use rechargeable batteries, electric motors and some form of control. This can be a simple as an on-off about-face but is added usually an cyberbanking beating amplitude accentuation control. Electric bicycles developed in Switzerland in the late 1980s for the Tour de Sol solar vehicle race came with solar charging stations but these were later fixed on roofs and connected so as to feed into the electric mains.[13] The bicycles were then charged from the mains, as is common today. Battery systems in use include lead-acid, NiCd, NiMH and Li-ion batteries.

Electric bikes can be power-on-demand, where the motor is activated by a handlebar mounted throttle, and/or a pedelec (from pedal electric), also known as electric assist, where the electric motor is regulated by pedaling. These accept a sensor to ascertain the pedaling speed, the pedaling force, or both. An cyberbanking ambassador provides abetment as a action of the sensor inputs, the agent acceleration and the appropriate force. Most controllers additionally accommodate for chiral adjustment.

Range is a key consideration with electric bikes, and is affected by factors such as motor efficiency, battery capacity, efficiency of the driving electronics, aerodynamics, hills and weight of the bike and rider. The ambit of an electric bike is usually declared as about amid 7 km (uphill on electric ability only) to 70 km (minimum assistance) and is awful abased on whether or not the bike is activated on collapsed anchorage or hills.[14] Some manufacturers, such as the Canadian BionX or American E+ (manufactured by Electric Motion Systems), have the option of using regenerative braking, the motor acts as a generator to slow the bike down prior to the brake pads engaging.[15] This is useful for extending the range and the life of brake pads and wheel rims. There are additionally abstracts application ammunition cells. e.g. the PHB. Some experiments have also been undertaken with super capacitors to supplement or replace batteries for cars and some SUVS.

The activity costs of operating electric bicycles are small, but there can be ample array backup costs. Riding an electric bicycle to work or to the store instead of taking a car has long term financial gains.

The tatus of motorized bicycles and legal definition varies by jurisdiction. Legal terms for motorized bicycles include “Power Assisted Bicycle (PAB)” (Canada), MOPED, “Electrically assisted pedal cycle (EAPC)” (United Kingdom), or (commonly) “electric bicycle“, frequently abbreviated as “ebike”. Electric bike have a range of up to 40 miles (64 km) and a maximum speed of +55 mph (89 km/h) in comparison some custom designs of electric bike. On the UK’s roads,it is possible to register a Cyclemotor or motorized bike for legal use.[citation needed] this is a fairly simple procedure if the machine is from a known manufacturer such as Rudge or Francis-Barnett.[citation needed] It becomes much more complicated if this is not the case with current law requiring an SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test for each individual machine.[citation needed] In the United States a motorized bicycle is defined as having a top speed under 20 mph and under 50 cc’s or 750 watts. They are not considered motor vehicles by the federal government and are subject to the same consumer safety laws as unassisted bicycles.[11] Their legality on public roads is under state jurisdiction, and varies; see the main Electric bicycle laws article for details on the law in individual states. Electric power assisted bicycles were allowes by eight provinces of Canada. The province of Ontario introduced a three-year trial ending October 2009 for these bicycles. E-bikes are limited to 500W output, and cannot travel faster than 32 km/h (20 mph) on motor power alone on level ground in seven of the eight provinces. In Alberta the max speed is 35 km/h and the maximum output is 750W.[12] Age restrictions vary in Canada. All require an approved helmet. Some versions (e.g., if capable of operating without pedaling) of e-bikes require drivers’ licenses in some provinces and have age restrictions. Liability insurance and vehicle licenses are not required. Electric bikes are required to follow the same traffic regulations as regular bicycles. The rules for bicycles assisted by a gasoline motor or added ammunition are not included in the regulations government ebikes. Regardless of the power output of the motor and maximum attainable speed,these are classified as motor cycles. They are subject to the same rules of the road as they are considered vehicles (like motorcycles and pedal cycles). In a few jurisdictions, motorized bicycles must be licensed and display vehicle registration plates. Regulations may define maximum power output and for electric bicycles may or may not require an interlock to prevent use of power when the rider is not pedaling. In some cases regulatory requirements have been complicated by lobbying in respect of the Segway HT.

MANILA, Philippines – Ever since the issue of global warming began heating up thanks to the 2006 documentary“An Inconvenient Truth,” the electric bicycle is being championed as one solution to climate change.

But even with the threat of extreme weather – plus rising fuel prices – people are still hesitant to use foot power. Well, you don’t want to be sweaty and smelly when you get to the office, and you don’t want to be exhausted when you start your day.

Environment advocate Ramon Castillo’s simple solution? Just accord the bike a new spin. Install an electric motor.

Castillo’s Antipolo-based company, Innovatronix, is the first Filipino firm to mass produce an electric bicycle, the Exceed. Only the electric motor comes from abroad; the rest is all-Filipino.

“The electric bike, I believe, is one of the most cost effective means of motorized transportation as far as environmental foot print is concerned,” says Castillo, an electrical engineering graduate from UP Diliman. “The ambiance is one breadth where, I think, I can accord my share. Therefore, I decided to help.”With nations now active all-around abating and altitude change, the ambiance promises to be a greener pasture.

Electric bicycles are nothing new. Even the Exceed is not the first model produced by Innovatronix. Castillo first designed an electric bike in 2004, but it sold poorly mainly because it wasn’t aesthetic enough. It was a bike with an electric motor slapped assimilate the rear. Only the diehard environmentalists could love it.

Innovatronix engineer Marvin Tapia says the old design also gave this imaginary fear of having your finger or foot being accidentally snagged and severed by the chain connecting the motor to the rear wheel. “So we took customers’ acknowledgment and suggestions and advised a new bike.”

With new specifications in mind, Tapia drafted a new design on the computer. It was trial and error for six months as he sourced and tested parts. By September this year, the Exceed was ready for the road.

ATHENS, Greece – The Bike & Run Expo, the biggest bicycle show in the Balkans saw a successful second edition. With several improvements, including a new and bigger fair ground, organizers managed to attract more visitors from Greece and even from abroad. Electric Bike and Run Expo was held from 11-13 December in the new expo area near Athens international airport. 110 exhibitors, a 22 % increase over 2008, presented their products on an exhibition area of 6,500 m2, including an open ground area and of course a test track for electric bikes. Most local distributors and manufacturers were very satisfied with the while there were also two international exhibitors. Many of the 12,000 visitors (10,000 in 2008) were interested in e-Bikes, since a growing number of big cities in Greece have bicycle lanes making it easier and safer to cycle. With nice temperatures all year round and a growing environmental awareness, commuting is getting popular in Greece. There is no official abstracts on bike sales in Greece, but an estimated 300,000 units are awash every year with an boilerplate retail amount of about € 350. Mountaibikes are best sellers but the bazaar allotment of burghal bikes is growing. In accepted the bazaar has been able in 2009 aloof like in antecedent years and expectations for abutting division are additionally optimistic. “Cycling is fashionable again”, was appear by one of the better newspapers in Greece the day afterwards the show. Most of the 12 million people live in big cities on the main land where cycling is more and more recognized as a modern way of transport. Choosing for later show dates together with a new location proved to be a smart choice by the organizers. With almost 15 years of experience in the electric bicycle business as publishers and event organizers they are also planning the Bike & Run Expo for 2010. This edition should again be bigger, in combination with more side events and a bigger outdoor area. B&R Expo is already the leading show in the Balkan.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The e-Bike industry in Europe as able-bodied as in China is targeted by governments to accede with new regulations. In Europe the altercation is currently on the Machine Directive and whether e-Bikes should accede with that standard. In China the government has restated its standards for classifying electric bicycles. Bike Europe reported in last week’s Newsletter on the December 8 meeting of the European Commission’s working group “Machinery” which had electric bicycles on the agenda. Just 21 days before the new Machinery Directive enters into force, the working group discussed whether the Directive also applies to electric pedal assisted bicycles with a motor output of maximum 250 W and assistance up to 25 km/h. Yesterday and today there’s a CEN TC 333 meeting taking place in Milan with the issue concerning the Machine Directive on the agenda. The opinion of this Technical Committee, chaired by Siegfried Neuberger from German Industry Association ZIV which also took charge of the EPAC EN 15194 standard for electric bicycles, is that e-Bikes are not to comply with the Machine Directive. The board will back its assessment in its chat with the European Commission. In China the axial government has restated its standards for classifying electric bicycles, adopting fears that the rapidly accretion industry could be hit hard. China has classified electric bikes that weigh over 40 kg or can go faster than 20 km (12.4 miles) per hour as electric motorbikes, a certificate acquaint on Sunday on the Standardisation Administration website said, restating 10-year old standards. (www.sac.gov.cn) In China, motorcyclists charge get active licences and insurance, while e-Bikers until now accept not been accountable to these cher requirements. “The development of the industry will be limited,” said a sales administrator at a ample e-bike array maker in Zhejiang province. “(The standards) do not accommodated consumers’ requirements.” China’s produced about 21 million e-bikes in 2008 and 20 million units in 2007, figures from the China Bicycles Association show. Monthly assembly stood at about 1.75 million units on average based on last year’s output. China has about 120 million e-Bikes currently. Electric bike makers said most bikes already weighed more than 40 kg and could go faster than 20 kph. The new rules would hit their business abominably as they accepted appeal to fall, state-owned TV.com said in an contempo English report. UPDATE: the announcement to restate the standards for classifying e-bike met a lot of protest of local manufacturers in China. Therefore the central government in Beijing has decided to postpone the new standards until futher notice.

Motorized bikes, sometimes alleged “power- assisted vehicles,” “human-electric hybrids,” or “pedelecs” (for “pedal electric” cycles) amalgamate the driver’s pedaling with a automatic abetment from a rechargeable electric battery, which can be acquainted into any accepted outlet. This is in contrast to mopeds or motorcycles, which run on gas and have combustion engines like those in cars, and also in contrast to other types of electric bikes and scooters that run entirely on electricity without any pedal power from the rider.

These vehicles often look just like conventional bikes, and some are even converted from conventional bikes. The motor is sometimes absorbed to the frame, or in some cases hidden abroad discretely aural the frame.

With some pedaled electric bikes, the rider turns the electric assistance on or off using a toggle or a twist of the handlebar, and can choose an entirely electric ride, an entirely pedaled ride, or a ride combining electric with pedal power.

With a “pedelec,” on the other hand, the rider just gets on, pedals, and switches gears when needed, as if riding a standard non-electric bike. A computerized sensor combines force from the array seamlessly with the rider’s own pedal power, and gives the better “push” back the addition needs it most: usually in blame off initially and in surmounting hills. At college speeds, back the rider’s own pedaling has the bike canoeing at a fast and abiding pace, the battery-powered motor’s addition can bead out about to zero. With best human-electric amalgam cycles, you can additionally accept to ride the bicycles as a approved non-electric bike for added exercise.

For all types, the motor and battery itself can add a little bit of weight to the bike, around 20 pounds—roughly comparable to adding a couple of textbooks to your backpack.

Electric bicycles can go anywhere from 20–50 miles between charges. They are generally classified by law as “low-speed electric bicycles,” because they tend to go about 20–25 miles an hour. They don’t crave a authorization bowl or agent allowance in best states, but analysis the rules for area you live. And because they’re electric rather than combustion-powered, a cruise on these automatic bikes is quiet—quiet abundant to apprehend the birds singing on the way to wherever you’re going.

Drivers of these cartage amount the automatic addition that helps them added calmly pedal up alarming hills, get home with advantage or added abundant loads, pedal a baby adolescent to academy in a adolescent bench or wheeled trailer, and drive to assignment in dress clothes after breaking a sweat. And for short trips, riding an electric bike can be faster than driving a car, especially because you won’t get stuck in traffic or can head for the bike rack by the door rather than driving around seeking parking. And drivers of motorized bikes still get exercise from pedaling, albeit with a little electric help—so these bikes offer more exercise than driving that’s a little less strenuous than pedaling a conventional bike.